Chapter 15

The children; Keri turned 11. Two months later, Artturi turned 12. We were still in New Orleans.

We were still in New Orleans because Wendy didn't want to be a new mom at sea. Don't get me wrong ... she had no problem being a mom at sea ... she didn't want to be a NEW mom at sea ... like in the big watery middle of nowhere and trusting her birthing to me.

Besides, there seemed to be plenty of money in tugboats. But what did I know. A tug looked to be a decent investment ... if people kept shipping in and out they needed tugboats ... as long as the ships kept sailing.

I bought a tug ... just off the ways. One hundred and thirty-nine feet. First diesel tugboat on the river ... every other tug was steam.

The day I signed the paperwork and presented my certified check, the President ordered moratorium on shipping. Due to the Stock Market crash, all over the world, thousands of ships were tied up and the crews walked off.

Want to buy a tramp steamer? There's one ... thousand bucks.

Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat. The Navy was dumping yesterdays models ... an ocean going tug was available; two hundred fifty feet ... fully found.

Fully found means it was completely provisioned ... fuel, food, tow lines, three inch deck gun, ammunition. Only the best equipment ... supplied by the lowest bidder... 2500 bucks ... out the door ... cash. Japan wasn't paying a lick of attention to anything the American President said. They were buying scrap and it was cash on the barrelhead ... FOB.

Wikipedia says:

FOB is only used in sea freight and stands for "Free On Board", and always used in conjunction with a port of loading. Indicating "FOB port" means that the seller pays for the transportation of the goods to the port of shipment, plus loading costs. The buyer pays cost of marine freight transport, insurance, unloading, and transportation from the arrival port to the final destination. The passing of risks occurs when the goods are loaded on board at the port of shipment.

Robert Higgs says:

"In the late nineteenth century, Japan's economy began to grow and to industrialize rapidly. Because Japan has few natural resources, many of the burgeoning industries had to rely on imported raw materials, such as coal, iron ore or steel scrap, tin, copper, bauxite, rubber, and petroleum. Without access to such imports, many of which came from the United States or from European colonies in southeast Asia, Japan's industrial economy would have ground to a halt."

In other words, you get it to a shipping port and load it onboard, Japan will buy it. And they bought. Those Maru of Japan had to have pilots in American waters ... and tugboats to push them to the docks ... and tugboats to pull them away ... and tugboats to rescue the ships when they broke down.

After the War to End All War, the Japanese sailed to America and bought. They bought the idle fleets of merchant vessels cut up as scrap, American deconstructed steel building beams. They bought Montana copper, Colorado molybdenum, Texas aviation gasoline, Wyoming bauxite, Michigan iron ore, Pennsylvania crude. America had it, Japan needed it, America sold and Japan bought.

Commerce.

Dollars in pockets and bread on the table.

They were shipping so much so often, Japan wore out their merchant ships ... they broke down ... tugboats rescued them ... marine courts adjudicated payment. Simple.

So, anyway, that was my great money making scheme ... completely forgetting that the Dutch had been doing this for years, had the most experience, training, the best crews.

A great part of towing is being first on the job ... that means contacts; shippers, insurance companies, and ship owners. I didn't know anyone like that ... but Tuobro did.

Towing disabled ships? I didn't now how to do that ... but Tuobro did.

Soon, all too soon, I admitted I didn't know ... anything ... but Tuobro did. And the next thing I knew ... Tuobro was borrowing my tugs.

Not leasing ... not renting ... borrowing.

"Colonel? I've got a ship loose out in the Gulf ... I need to borrow your tug."

"Colonel? There's a ship on the sandbank ... I need your tug."

It got worse.

"Colonel? We need a bigger pump."

And I would go buy one.

I met his bank obligations ... more than once.

I paid his crew ... more than twice.

I bought his fuel ... more than thrice.

"What are friends for?" Wendy asked.

"Are you sure you wouldn't care if the baby was born out in the Gulf?"

"I am staying right here until birth."

"Just checking."